Lil' strawberry
by Alice Summers
Summary: Our story begins in a small village in Afghanistan called Gulmira, where a petite, strawberry blonde haired girl was kneeling on the hot, sandy ground with tears in her deep green eyes. Her hair that was some minutes ago still silky and clean was now covered in dust and sand while her palms and knees were crimson red with blood.
1. Sand and blood

**Hello.  
This is my first fan fiction so I hope it's passable. Before we start I'd like to get some things clear:  
1) Tony Stark is for the sake of story 25 years old  
2) This is not Pepper x Tony story, I have nothing against them  
3) English is not my first language and this story may have some grammar mistakes, for which I apologize**

**"Foreign language**"  
_Thoughts  
_"Normal speaking"

**Disclaimer: I own ****nothing****. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it.**

* * *

Our story begins in a small village in Afghanistan called Gulmira, where a petite, strawberry blonde haired girl was kneeling on the hot, sandy ground with tears in her forest green eyes. Her hair that was some minutes ago still silky and clean was now covered in dust and sand while her palms and knees were crimson red with blood that was slowly spreading around her, her clothes weren't any better. Gun shots could be heard, but she simply didn't care, she couldn't. Her mind was focused on two bodies lying before her, bodies of her parents, dead and unmoving. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, in too much sock to even hear that the gun shots stopped. She finally turned around when she heard a voice "Wait! She's with me! She's my assistant, she is a student and she can help." The first thing she saw when she turned her look from her dead parents, were people in black, brown or gray clothes, with scarves hiding their faces while they were all holding guns in their arms. Well they all looked almost the same, but there was a middle-aged man, in formal black suit, with white shirt. He had glasses and gray hair. His suit was dirty on some parts and he didn't look like others, he looked like he was forced being there, after all he had at least three people pointing guns at him. But the green-eyed girl didn't have time to analyze her surroundings completely, because two of the men with guns came to her and grabbed her while one pointed a gun at her temple. "Get up! Walk!" said a rough voice of man on her left in broken English. She was scared so she let the man guide her to their group, where he pushed her in the arms of the other prisoner. He looked like he had some knowledge of what was happening, but she wasn't sure and her mind was in state of panic, so she didn't really think clearly. The group of men started moving and she quietly walked along. As they walked through lonely streets she saw dead bodies lying around or sometimes she saw shadows of quietly moving, hiding in deeps of ruined houses and between small, dark streets. She wanted to label them as cowards, weak and losers, but she couldn't, she couldn't judge them. She was, after all a logical person, she knew she was just thinking that, because she wished that she could be angry on them for not saving her, for not coming on her rescue, but she knew those were just normal people, clearly outnumbered and without any weapons, so they did only thing they could; they hid.  
The girl was deep in thought, scared and her mind was filled with images of dead and blood, she didn't realize much else, she was trapped in her own mind with nothing but terror to keep her company and when she felt a hand that softly grabbed her small petite palm she jumped and gasped. She quickly turned her head and saw the middle aged man, he smiled at her and quietly whispered "I'll try to protect you, I don't know what is happening but from what I heard the need me so we are safe" She nodded and the man smiled again, his smile was kind, like the one a father would give to his child and the girl decided to trust him, she showed her trust with a soft squeeze of her palm around man's bigger one. Then the man spoke again "I'm Ho Yinsen. I'm a scientist. And you are? " She slightly smiled, a scientist, she loved science, it was always fun and she was good at it. When she looked at the Dr. Yinsen she saw that he expected something from her. "Oh!" she let out a surprised gasp that was nearly impossible to hear when she realized that she became distracted with her thoughts and forgot to introduce herself. She collected herself and opened her mouth when she heard a familiar rough voice and broken English "Shut up! PUT THIS ON!" She could swear that her heart just jumped and did a summer salt, but she really didn't have time for her analyzing and weirdness. She turned and saw a man holding two black bags. She didn't know what to do and when one of kidnappers saw that, he took the bag putted it on her head and hit her with the handle of his gun. The girl's world went black immediately after.  
Men with guns didn't know who the girl was, but the original target aka Dr. Yinsen said that she could help and they were just simple-minded muscled men that fulfill orders they get and if the kill someone their boss may want to keep they are in trouble so they decided to take the unknown girl with them. When they reached their jeeps, one of them took out the black bags, so the prisoners couldn't see where they are going, but the girl looked confused and the man who hit her on the head didn't have patience. So now she was knocked out on the ground with a bag on her head, their original target looked little worriedly at the blonde girl, but the men didn't care. They lifted her light body with ease and tossed her in one of the jeeps. Dr. Yinsen didn't make any problems as he did what he was told. After that they went into jeeps and drove away to their hideout. When they came a man walked to them, but suddenly stopped when he saw the strawberry blonde girl knocked out on the back seat of jeep. The man's name was Raza and he liked being in control, but an unknown girl in the back seat of a car was not mentioned in any orders. He sent an angry glare at each member of the group that was ordered to seize a man named Ho Yinsen, he wanted to know what was going on, he surely won't be the one in trouble if something goes wrong and higher-ups get angry so he asked, no demanded them to tell him what's going on. One of the other men spoke up in Arabian "**The doctor said that's she will help. That she's his assistant and he needs her.**" Raza thought for a moment, after a while he decided that some help could be used so they will keep her. At least or now…  
While the men and Raza talked, they forgot that Dr. Yinsen was awake and listening to their conversation. He didn't know what to do, the girl seemed so lonely and scared, he had to help her. She reminded him to much of his daughter, to watch this unknown girl die would be like watching her die again. In that moment he decided he will try to help her and any other person that faced same fate than her. But he did not have any time to continue planning an escape; the men remembered his existence, grabbed his arm and pulled him. He lost his footing and almost fell; luckily one of the men caught him, quite roughly if I say so, but still better than falling on the hard ground with a bag on his head. They began pulling him again and he tried to keep up with them to the best of his possibilities, but as he could not see anything it was slightly (or a lot) harder to do so. After more walking in dark and stumbling, the man grabbing his arm stopped. Someone took off Dr. Yinsen's bag and he could finally see. Normally his eyes would need some time to get used to stronger light, but in the place he was there was not really much light so that made process of it speed up. When his eyes got used to the light, or lack of it for that matter he looked around. He saw he was in a cave that had only one exit in form of giant metal door. He noticed that the cave looked like some sort of work place with two beds. But he also noticed lack of something, well someone if we are more specific. He didn't see petite girl anywhere and it got him really worried. _What had they done to her? I thought that she stays!_ He looked around again and saw someone walking to him. That person had someone in their arms and he immediately recognized his green-eyed companion. He started running to the girl, but strong hand holding his shoulder stopped him. He had no other choice than to watch. The man threw the girl on the bed and left while the other terrorist in the room spoke in his language "**You are staying here. Don't try to escape or you die. You will get what you need for survive and one last thing you want to remember is; always listen to orders. The girl can stay, but if she makes trouble; she's dead.**" Then he turned and walked out of the cave. When he passed the door two others closed them in. There was no known escape for Dr. Yinsen, but he did not care about that. Right now his main priority was the girl on the bed that slowly started waking up.


	2. Dreams of dead

**Hello.  
I'm really glad that someone is actually reading the story.  
So thank you, there may not be a lot of you, but you make me happy.  
**

**I'll try to update one or two chapter every week. I have school and teachers are killing us...**

**I apologize for all grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it**.

* * *

The strawberry haired girl turned in her sleep. She was still in the land of dreams, but it wasn't a pleasant dream she was having. At the beginning she was surrounded by darkness, but it did not last long and in the next moment there was strong sunlight everywhere. The sunlight didn't bring her peace though, because in the moment she was able to see what was around her, she was petrified by the by what she saw; river of deep crimson blood was running where once stood main street of Gulmira, then bodies came down the river and suddenly all stopped. She was surrounded by dead. When she finally managed to gather enough courage to look around she felt sick, because there, just before her were laying her parents. Their familiar features were like all those times back home where they were laughing and having fun, their eyes used to sparkle, her mother Katharine had green eyes, not completely like hers but close, while her father John had electric blue ones. But now those eyes were now dull and cold, staring at her, quietly judging her. The silence around her was honestly scary; there was no wind or any other little sounds that are always there, it was simple nothing. Silence was slowly killing the girl, screaming at her trough eyes of dead bodies, whispering that it's her fault, that she should not be alive. Her parent's voice was the loudest in her head, mooching her with secrets nobody knew, judging her and telling her, her worst fears, which nobody knew. She couldn't stand any more, not when it was her parents who were telling her those things, John and Katharine were the only people on the world that knew her and still accepted her the way she was, her legs gave up under her and she fell on hot, sandy ground. Pain she experienced was greater than any she ever felt before and she could do absolutely nothing to stop it, to stop the voices, whispers around her. The heat around her increased and she felt like she was burning and freezing at the same time. It was horrible, the girl wanted it to end, but nothing happened; she wanted to run her far, far away from this terror. In that moment she was desperate and when she heard her mother's voice, she turned, but the words she heard broke her completely. "You are not normal, you know. I always thought that it was just one time thing, but it's not true is it. You are such a disappointment, you are a freak! You are a monster! I wish you were never born!" She heard things like that often, that she was a freak, weirdo, not normal, different, but once again those words hurt so, so, SO much, once again someone she loved with all her heart said them and it broke her. Her world started spinning _No, no, no, no, it's not true. I'm not evil, I'm not a monster!_ She repeated again and again in her head, but nothing helped to ease the pain, yet she kept repeating it _No, no! I'm not, I'm not! Please stop, I can't take it anymore! Stop, stop! No, _"NO!"  
The strawberry haired girl woke up with a scream, her eyes were wide open and she stared before her in silence, not actually seeing anything, all she could process were the words her mother said. It hurt. It was a fact and she was hurt by those words again. She just kept staring ahead of her, not seeing the man that approached her. He gently grabbed her shoulder. The action that was meant like a gesture of comfort made the green-eyed girl jump. She has not realized where she was or that she was not alone. As she turned around, she saw Dr. Yinsen. She remembered him as the kindhearted man that offered her comfort on the way here. Wherever 'here' was. Doctor smiled at her and spoke in gentle voice "Hello dear. I never caught your name, mind telling me? After that I'll try to explain what's happening. Well not that I know much, but it's worth a shot, isn't it?" It was true, it couldn't do her any more harm, she was already left broken and alone with terrorists. You see despite her young look, not that she was a child, far from that actually, intelligently and emotionally she grew up faster than other kids and she far surpassed any normal grown up, but despite her age she looked much younger and people often mistook her for 13 years old child, she didn't like, but she ignored it most of the time, so after Dr. Yinsen spoke up, she needed less than two seconds to come up with a decision to trust the doctor, so she spoke up. "Um. I'm sorry I did not introduce myself earlier. I'm Anastasia Ciel. It's nice to meet you Dr. Yinsen." Anastasia's soft, shy voice said. She wasn't used to much human contact other than her parents, who were dead now. This thought hurt her, she did not want to remember it, especially after that nightmare she had, so she hid her emotions behind wall of logic, like so many times before, but she had no time for this. She decided she will face her emotions when she'll be safe, away from Afghanistan. For now she will try to get whatever information she can get and stay alive. She took a good look around her for the first time and realized that she was in some sort of makeshift workshop. There were two beds and some other things, which she memorized where they were in case of later use, her main focus were giant metal door, which seemed like they were the only exit from this dark place. Anastasia had many questions so she asked "Dr. Yinsen, do you mind telling me what you know about this place and who are those people. Are they terrorists?"  
Dr. Yinsen was looking at the sleeping girl who turned on the uncomfortable looking bed. At first she was unconscious or sleeping, as you want to call it, so he didn't want to wake her up. He cleaned the blood on her body, without taking her clothes off of course, so she wouldn't have to deal with it later. It may not be the best idea to let her see the blood and trigger bad memories. He took this as opportunity to study her a little. She looked young, 13 or 14 years maybe, she had pale skin and long blonde hair that reached down her mid back. _May would call her hair strawberry blond, she always liked the color. _He recalled his daughter and a sour smile found a way on his face. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed the girl laying on the bed was having a nightmare; he could see that just from pained expression she had on her face. He decided to wake her up, end her bad dream, but as he approached her she woke up with a loud scream "NO!" She gave him quite the scare, jumping out of bed like this, but he continued his way to her. When he reached her he noticed that she seemed to be unaware of his presence. He gently grabbed her arm and she jumped. The look of shock made him move away slightly, so he won't scare her again or enter her personal space. He wished to calm her down so he smiled and spoke to her. She turned to him and he noticed her eyes for first time. He had to confess, she had really pretty eyes, they were forest green, with freckles of blue and golden, but what surprised him the most was how her eyes showed all her emotions. He could see pain in them. Then she spoke. It was the first time he heard her speak, but he paid no attention to her voice and more to her eyes. He learned that her name was Anastasia Ciel, but as she finished speaking he saw even more pain in her eyes, his heart broke for the girl. In that moment she seemed so scared and alone that he wanted nothing more than hug her, like a father would hug a daughter and he almost did so. What stopped him was her expression. One moment she was showing emotion in the other she had walls built up. He was little confused by this, but if one looked in her eyes really good he could still se emotions and Dr. Yinsen was a scientist, he was good at observing so he saw glimpse of emotion in her eyes. He decided he will respect her privacy and won't ask her about it no matter how curious he was. Then she opened her mouth and asked "Dr. Yinsen, do you mind telling me what you know about this place and who are those people. Are they terrorists?" He was surprised by her blunt question, but he answered none the least. "Yes, they are theorists known as Ten Rings. They are cruel and I honestly don't want anything with them. I do not know what they need me for; alas all I know is that they need me alive. I told them that you are with me as my assistant. Try not to anger them as you may be in bigger danger than me." When he finished he felt little bad for telling her that she may be killed, but as he looked at her he was surprised once again, this time by her calmness and understanding of situation.


	3. Playboys in Malibu

**Hey!  
I'm currently sick and I have no idea when the next chapter will be uploaded. Please be patient with me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it. **

* * *

At the same time as a certain petite girl was locked in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan, at the other side of the world there was a man, dressed in expensive clothes with sunglasses covering his eyes as he was in a casino, playing with his money and skipping award ceremony.

He was bored of those things. It was always the same boring stuff and he had enough of it, so he rather wasted his time in casino, playing stupid games, with two women in tight, short dresses on either side of him. But honestly he was growing bored of the women too. Don't get him wrong he was playboy and he lived up his title in every way. He didn't mind sleeping with them, no that was the good part, but it seemed to him that they were all the same. All were after his looks and mostly after his money. They usually had absolutely no idea what engineering even was and the smart ones were mostly either arrogant or evil, or both. He didn't let it show tough. He hid his real emotion well, locked them so deep inside, that even he forgot they ever existed and then he enjoyed the moment.

The man just threw dice down the game table and won. As he was about to kiss the girl on his right, he heard familiar voice "You are unbelievable, Tony!"

Yup, you probably guessed who this is by now. The man is no other than Anthony Edward Stark, called Tony, by most. The black man who called his name was his best friend _James_ "Rhodey" Rhodes. Rhodey looked quite annoyed, but Tony frankly didn't care, he just wanted to have fun so he replied "Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?" After Tony's comment, the other man looked even more annoyed and spoke again "Nobody roped me into anything! But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored." "Of course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?" Tony played innocence and focused on game, while annoying Rhodey.

After that they, they meaning Happy, Rhodey and Tony, decided to leave the casino. On the way out, Tony gave his new award to a gladiator actor that worked there. When they reached Tony's Rolls Royce, they were stopped by beautiful blonde that presented herself as Christine Everhart. She said she worked for Vanity Fair magazine and that she wanted to ask some questions. After a nod of approval from Happy, the self proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist turned around. Afterwards a short conversation, well more like interview, Christine found herself in Tony Stark's bed, lying on top of him while they were kissing.

Next day she was woken by bright light that started shining when darkened windows returned to normal and a slightly electronic voice, with British accent said: "Good morning. It's 7:00 a.m. The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52 a.m." She found herself naked on the bed in big bedroom, with one wall made completely out of glass. She hugged sheets around herself and went to the window. What she saw left her speechless. The scenery was beautiful. But when she looked around she saw that Tony wasn't there. She dressed herself in one of his shirts and went to look for him.

As she was exploring around she heard a voice, this time a female voice. She turned and saw a beautiful woman standing behind her. The woman was dressed in business suit. She had orange hair and grayish-blue eyes. Christine recognized this woman immediately. "You must be the famous Pepper Potts." She said. The woman, now known as Pepper confirmed it. Sadly the conversation between the two women didn't turn out so good and ended with Christine leaving with a sour expression on her face.

Then Pepper went down to Tony's garage/workshop where Tony was working on one of his cars, while loud rock music was playing in the background. As she came, she reminded Tony that he should be half around this world in Afghanistan. Some nagging from Pepper later, he got in his Audi R8 and raced to airport with Happy driving Rolls Royce behind and trying not to lose sight of his boss. At the airport his private plane was waiting for him along, with angry Rhodey.

The flight to Afghanistan was in Stark stile seeing as there was a lot of saké, alcohol and half-naked women dancing. In Afghanistan Tony successfully presented his new Jericho missile, seeing that the explosion was felt even by soldiers that were watching presentation more kilometers away. When he finished with the Jericho, he took a glass of fine whisky and went in a jeep that was his ride airport. While on the way he started to chat with the soldiers in the jeep. He was about to take a picture with soldier Forrest when there was a loud explosion outside. Others left the car and Tony began to panic.

He left the car too and hid behind a rock, hoping he would be safe, he picked up his phone and started dialing a number, but before he could finish a missile landed right next to him. He tried to get up and run, but he was to slow the missile exploded and he flew back. He was still conscious. He lifted his head and looked at his chest as his blood started soaking his shirt and that was the last thing Tony Stark saw before his world turned black.


	4. Operation, a new man and a bit of truth

**Hello.  
English is not my first language and this story may have some grammar mistakes, for which I apologize.**

**I would like to thank all the readers that give me little more confidence that this story is actually readable.**

**Disclaimer: I own ****nothing****. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it. **

* * *

Anastasia was just thinking about past three days she spent locked in a cave when the giant metal doors opened. She was surprised. They usually didn't open door often except for the little food they brought. But this time group of theorists was bigger and they were carrying a man covered in blood. He looked familiar and badly hurt. She stood up, so she could see better, but she was stopped by Dr. Yinsen. "**You will save him. He must be saved. These are boss's orders, fail and you are dead. You will be given men and tools for operation or whatever you need to do**."

Anastasia turned to see one of theorists giving orders to Dr. Yinsen. Dr. Yinsen looked at her and opened his mouth to tell her what the men were talking about, but he was disturbed by the theorist shouting at him "**Get going! We don't have all day!**" He looked at Anastasia and went to the group of theorists that were shouting one over another. They did not know what to do and that was making his job harder, but he had no choice. He took things in his own hands and shouted "**If we don't start working he will die. So get yourselves together!**"  
The men looked at him and realized that Dr. Yinsen was the only one that knew what to do. They were not the smartest around, but they knew that if they fail they are dead, so they decided to listen to the doctor.  
Dr. Yinsen started giving orders that would save the life of the man. He recognized him immediately. The man was Tony Stark, but he had no time to think why the famous billionaire was here, because right now he had to focus on keeping him alive. Dr. Yinsen knew what to do. He saw it many times before and now he had tools that could save someone from dying when the said person had some dangerous shrapnel in his chest. He knew that the operation is going to be bloody and there was nothing he could do about it if he wanted to save Mr. Stark's life. He took a scalpel and opened Mr. Stark's chest.  
In the panic that started when they brought the new man in the cave they forgot a small girl in the corner. Anastasia was silently watching the whole thing. She was worried. If the man dies, she and Dr. Yinsen die too. In the last three days she mostly slept and talked with Dr. Yinsen. She grew fond to the man. He was her only ally in this mess and she did not know what she would do if she lost him. She knew she wasn't completely honest when she was talking to him, but she was scared that if she told him the truth he'd be scared of her and she could not watch another person leaving her alone. She didn't want to be alone so she tried to keep their conversations as casual as possible and she often told him half-truths. But even so she started to care deeply for the man, just like a child would care for a parent. She did not know what made her trust him so easily. Maybe she just needed someone after she watched her parents die, or maybe she wanted a friend. _Friend_ she thought _the last friend I had pushed me away after she realized the truth and it wasn't even whole truth_. She was used to being alone and to be honest she carved human contact. Someone that could understand her. Dr. Yinsen was nice to her and she started to consider him a friend. She did not know what was about the man that made it so easy to talk to him, but he had certain aura that radiated trust. In the last three days she told him much about herself. That she was 16, almost 17 which surprised him much to her displeasure, that she is from New York and she told him about her parents. That day when she told him she cried. It was the first time in last two years that she cried and Dr. Yinsen didn't judge her nor he tried to calm her with fake hope and she was grateful for it. So now she was watching the group of people that played doctors with Dr. Yinsen in command. He was probably the only person that knew what to do and she worriedly watched as he sliced open the chest of the other man. The operation was going on for hours. She lost track of time as she observed what Dr. Yinsen did. She noticed that he created some sort of magnet that was working on car battery. She was quite far away and she didn't see the whole thing especially if we count all the times she looked away because she could not stand the look of the other man's bloody chest. She still didn't know who he was, even though he looked familiar and she still didn't see his face because of people surrounding him. The operation was finished and the theorist left after they put the man in bandages and new crappy clothes. As soon as the metal doors closed Anastasia went to Dr. Yinsen. When she came close enough to see the wounded man's face she gasped. He was handsome even if he was full of dirt and blood, but that was not what surprised her. She didn't care about dating, long isolation from any other human being except her parents made her oblivious to romance around her. No what surprised her was that this man was Tony Stark. She knew that he was in a lot of magazines as a model from rumors she heard at school. She didn't care about, but this man was genius. She was a big fan of his work. Then she saw the bandages and she turned to the other prisoner in the cave. "What happened to him? What was that thing that you put in his chest?"  
Dr. Yinsen didn't know how to replay. He didn't know how much Anastasia knew about engineering and he was thinking over how to explain to her. "I know how engineering works and what it is. I know that the thing is some sort of electromagnet that is being powered by the car battery. I just don't know why he needs it?" He was surprised that she managed to get all that, but then again he noticed that she knew more that what she told him and that she was very intelligent. He decided that truth would be the best "He was hit by a bomb that exploded and the shrapnel went in his chest, one is dangerously close to his heart. You are right about electromagnet. It's keeping the shrapnel out of his heart and alive. That's all I can do with these tools." She looked at Mr. Stark and then back at Dr. Yinsen. He noticed that she was deep in thought and he decided to ask her about it. What she answered was not what he expected. _And just when I thought I had her figured out. Her calmness and rational thoughts about the whole situation keep surprising me.  
_Anastasia was in deep thought. _Why do they need Dr. Yinsen? They clearly didn't expect to have Mr. Stark here, they looked too surprised. They kept us all alive, they need us for something. But what?_ Her thoughts were disturbed. "What are you thinking about?" She turned and saw Dr. Yinsen looking at her with curiosity. "I just want to know why they are keeping us alive. If they wanted a doctor they could kidnap some other. No they didn't want a doctor. They wanted a scientist. They were not expecting Mr. Stark here. It was not planed and we are still alive. What do they need us for?" Anastasia voiced her thoughts. She already told Dr. Yinsen that she knows about engineering more than she lets on and he didn't judge her. It couldn't turn any worse already and she could die any minute so what she had to lose? She knew she wasn't in school anymore. There were no blonde cheerleaders that could make her life hell and right now he was her only ally. She hoped that he wouldn't be freaked out by her knowledge or thoughts. She slowly looked in his eyes and saw some surprise and… Happiness? She was confused by it. People back at home were usually freaked out by her thoughts and knowledge. For them it was not normal that a teenage girl knew more about nanotechnology and engineering then them. They shut her out and she realized at young age that if you wanted to survive you had to blend in. So happiness in her ally's eyes was confusing her. "Why are you happy? Isn't it freaky that I know what electromagnet is?"  
Now it was doctor's turn to be confused. _Why would it be 'freaky'? It's great that she is interested in it. World needs people that think._ He looked at Anastasia and said "I think it's great that you know about it. Now I can have conversations with someone who understands me." He saw that the girl looked happier after that and then she yawned. He sent her to sleep and she happily obliged him. He went to bed soon after that. Before he fell asleep he thought about the strange girl and Mr. Stark. It seemed that his life changed drastically in last three days and with that thought he fell asleep.


	5. I refuse

**Hi!**

**I'm sorry for late new chapter, but I had to study for tests. They wanted to kill us. But here I am, still alive (for now) and with new chapter.**

**Now with the boring stuff:**

******Disclaimer: I own ****nothing (except the plot and OC)****. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it.**

* * *

Dr. Yinsen woke up. He didn't know what time it was as there were not any hours there, but when he looked around and saw that others were still sleeping he decided to get ready and wait for Mr. Stark to wake up. He did not know what the man would do if he woke up alone, in an unknown cave. He worried that he would do something stupid as pull the wires out of his chest and stop the electromagnet. So he washed his face and started to shave. It was a hard thing to do; shaving in semi-darkness with just one small mirror for help. But he managed it. When he was almost done he heard a soft groan and looked around. At first he thought that it was Anastasia gently moving around, but when he looked at her she was sleeping. Then he heard a groan again and he turned around. Mr. Stark started to wake up. Dr. Yinsen kept his calm and started shaving again. When he finished he saw that Mr. Stark completely woke up and was trying to pull the wires out of his chest. _Just what I was afraid of_ he thought. He signed and spoke up. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Said . But the other man doesn't listen and he pulls the bandages on his chest only to find a metal device there.  
Tony slowly woke up. As he did so he found his chest bandaged and wires connected to it. In panic he tried to pull the wires off, but a voice stopped him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tony turned and saw a middle aged man that just finished shaving. The man looked like he knew something and Tony turned back to his chest. He frantically pulled the bandages of his chest. What he saw next shocked him. There was a metal device in the middle of his chest! He became scared, confused and angry. He didn't want to have something in his chest! Tony turned to other man and asked him: "What the hell did you do to me?!" The other man turns. "What I did... What I did is to save your life. I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum." The man then holds out a jar. "Here, want to see? I have a souvenir. Take a look. I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead, because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs." Tony was confused. This man saved his life? And then it all came back; the attack on the jeep, the pieces of operation, him being on a chair in front of camera. But it did not explain the situation or the metal device for that matter. "What is this?" Tony asks the man. "That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart." Was the answer he got. Then he looked around for the first time and saw that he was in a cave and Tony notices the camera. He looks at the man for explanation, but all he got was "That's right. Smile." Then the man turns back to the food he started making while they were having this nice "chat". While cooking some horrible-tasting food the man speaks again. "We met once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern." Tony didn't turn, but he still answered "I don't remember." And he really didn't. He didn't remember almost anything from that conference or any other… But the man paid no mind to that and just smiled: "No, you wouldn't. lf I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits." Was his answer. Tony started looking around again and then he saw another bed in the corner of the cave. It was quite far away and the cave was dark, but he was sure he could see someone on it. The person was small and he/she was moving. He then turned to the man and once again asked him a question: "Where are we? And who is that?" The man turned to the other bed and the person, but was disturbed by the voices of terrorists. The man quickly turned to Tony and told him to do as he does.  
Anastasia started to wake up. She heard voices and they just didn't let her fall asleep again. So she slowly turned on the other side of bed where the voices were coming from. When she finally saw who was talking she realized that Mr. Stark woke up. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't used to company of other people, well except her now dead family and Dr. Yinsen. At the thought of her family she felt pain and sorrow. Her mind brought up the memories of that day. She wanted to cry so she rolled under the covers and let some tears fall. She wanted to cry more, but she was interrupted by her captors entering in the cave. She quickly rolled out of bed and stood up. She almost fell couple of times, but her captors didn't even look her way. They were too occupied with Mr. Stark. She heard Dr. Yinsen giving instructions to Mr. Stark and then one the captors, Abu Bakaar, spoke to Tony in a foreign language. was translating it to Mr. Stark and her, but mostly Mr. Stark. But what Dr. Yinsen didn't know was that she could speak their language quite good and she understood everything. "Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America. I'm honored. I want you to build the Jericho missile that you demonstrated, this one." He said. Anastasia was quietly watching the conversation from the shadows. She could feel the trouble that was coming. She honestly did not see any good option. _If he said yes, he would need to build a giant, dangerous missile, if he said no we are all dead. _"I refuse." Mr. Stark spoke up. She was surprised by it. He was brave. She knew that his answer would bring no good and it was confirmed when the terrorists frowned and grabbed him. They started to walk out of cave, while dragging Mr. Stark with them. She was worried. God knows what horrible things they would do to him. She took one last glance at the man and the metal door closed.


	6. New determination

**Hi,  
The new chapter is up and I hope you like it. If you have any suggestions please tell me as I'm not the best writer.**

******Disclaimer: I own ****nothing, except my OC and plot****. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it.**

* * *

The door closed and Anastasia knew nothing good would happen behind them. She hoped that Mr. Stark would come back in one piece, especially after he just went through an operation. Quietly she walked to Dr. Yinsen and grabbed his arm for support seeing as the man was quite worried. He turned to her and smiled. "It's going to be alright." He said and the girl wondered who he wanted to convince in it. Even so, she smiled back at the kind doctor and let go of his hand. She knew that she was useless right now and she decided to take a nap and recover her energy. Don't get her wrong, she was worried to death for Mr. Stark, but she was logical being; she could do nothing for him right now and she wanted to have enough energy if her help would be needed later. So she went to her bed and hid herself under covers.

But the sleep just didn't and didn't come. Anastasia couldn't stop thinking. Her thoughts ran from her parents to Mr. Stark, Dr. Yinsen, Ten Rings and to so many others unanswered questions. She could not sleep. She just lied there, under old, dirty covers and asked herself, what can she do. In the end she always came to same solution. She was useless and it made her feel horrible. She didn't know how long she just lied there, but the door opened once again and she stood up. As she opened her eyes she saw Dr. Yinsen. Their eyes locked for brief moment and she slowly walked to him. Anastasia noticed the wary look of theorists and she was wary of them too. When she came to Dr. Yinsen they roughly grabbed and pulled them out of the cave and she had to walk fast so she didn't fall. Anastasia could see the strong light that was coming from the direction they were walking to and they were getting closer by every step they took, until Anastasia wasn't blinded by the strong light. The heat was horrible and the sun too strong. But soon enough she could see clearly and what she saw was terrible. _What? How can they have so much of Stark weapons? I noticed before that they had Stark guns, but this much?! This much explosive could destroy smaller city! This is bad! Even worse than before. _As she was calculating how much damage could do all that, a new person was dragged next to them. She heard them and turned around. He was recognized in an instant; the same handsome face and dark brown, almost black hair, that were now wet, he was Tony Stark.  
Tony was brought out of the cave and the sight horrified him. _How the hell did they get so much of MY weapons?!_ He thought. When he looked around and saw piles of weapons with Stark industries logo on them, until his look stopped on the small girl that was standing next to the man he meet earlier in the cave. He didn't remember seeing her before, but she might be the other person in the cave that he didn't get a good look at. She was petite and she had strawberry blonde hair. Her hair color was similar to Pepper's, but the girl had more blonde highlights in her hair than Pepper. She was shorter and younger too. _What the fuck is this kid even doing here?! She can't be more than 14 for god's sake! This is crazy!_  
The theorists moved again. This time even closer to dangerous weapons. As they walked Abu Bakaar spoke and Dr. Yinsen translated. Anastasia was worried about the whole situation and she felt a headache coming. She knew that Mr. Stark was a stubborn man and that whatever they did to him won't change his decision. This meant trouble, she knew that. Anastasia heard that bastard Bakaar wanted to know what Mr. Stark thought and his answer was just "I think you got a lot of my weapons." Anastasia mentally laughed and overheard what the bastard said next. But soon enough Dr. Yinsen's translation came: "He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho Missile. He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free." Anastasia was worried. She was quite sure she knew what Mr. Stark will say and in that case they will probably hurt him. She glanced at Dr. Yinsen and Mr. Stark to see what happens next. Mr. Stark smiled, shocked Bakaar's hand and said: "No I won't." She almost expected a gun shoot and more blood. She was panicking, remembering the day when they murdered her parents. She did not know if she could watch something like that again. Then Dr. Yinsen said "No, he won't" The theorist just smiled as he clearly understood it as a yes. Anastasia was shocked. Was the theorist really THAT stupid?! Her mind still didn't quite progress the whole scenario and it kept replaying her parent's death. So she just went with the flow and let herself be dragged back into the dark cave.  
As we came into the cave Anastasia sat on one of the beds and slowly processed the fact that they are still alive. She knew that she will not forget what she saw in the last week, but for now she will try her best to focus on getting out of here alive. When she did so, she focused on the conversation that the other two prisoners had. Anastasia saw that Mr. Stark was sitting and watching the flames, which were the greatest source of light in this cave. She knew that she needed quite some time to sort her thoughts out and so she knew she probably missed some things that happened (like Mr. Stark getting a cap and blanket). But she that wasn't her source of anxiety; she figured that he got the cape from the box left of the fire, she saw it before. No, she was worried about Mr. Stark metal health. He looked shaken up and she had no idea what to do. She wasn't good with dealing with people, so she looked at Dr. Yinsen. She knew that the man noticed Mr. Stark's discomfort and the look in his eyes told her that he will do something about it. "I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains." Said Dr. Yinsen. The other man didn't bat an eyelash. Not that the worlds were comforting, but the whole not moving thing was freaking Anastasia out. "Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?" Continued Dr. Yinsen and finally Mr. Stark spoke up: "Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week." She really hoped that it would be something more hopeful, but figures her luck wasn't the best, besides she came to the same realization herself. She knew that they were going to die unless a miracle happened and the only reason that she wasn't yet depressive was that she had support of Dr. Yinsen. So she once again looked at the strange man that radiated aura of trust and now not giving up. Her instinct didn't let her down, Dr. Yinsen spoke again: "Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it? Umm." And this seemed to reach the man as he suddenly turned his eyes up and when Anastasia saw them, they were full of determination.


	7. Palladium

**Hello my dear readers!**

**I thank everyone that read, followed, favoured or reviewed this story. It means a lot to me.**

******Disclaimer: I own ****nothing, except my OC and plot****. All belongs to MARVEL and the creators. If this story has any similarities to others I apologize again, this is my original idea and I hope it you will like it.**

* * *

The next day started early for Anastasia. She was woken up by her captors and Mr. Stark's shouting orders to everyone. "lf this is going to be my work station, I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools," was shouting Mr. Stark, while Dr. Yinsen was translating. The theorists were running in and out of cave with tools and materials in their hands. She sat on the bed and watched the whole thing. It seemed like a movie; she wasn't part of it, just a bystander. Her bed was in far corner of the cave, in the shadows were nobody could see her, but she could see them. The whole time Anastasia quietly sat on her bed and watched. The only person that noticed her was Dr. Yinsen and he nodded to her as some sort of hello.  
Minutes passed and soon an hour or two. While she was observing the commotion that was happening in the cave, Dr. Yinsen brought her breakfast (if you could call that a breakfast). Soon after she ate her small, bad-tasting meal, all the material and tools were brought in the cave and Mr. Stark started working.  
She was quite excited to see the genius work. Who was she kidding; she was enthusiastic to see him work! She always loved engineering and to see THE Tony Stark work made her happier than she ever was from the moment her parents died. She didn't want to move from her spot on bed, so she just watched like a hawk from her place on the bed.  
Dr. Yinsen could see the sparks in Anastasia's eyes. He knew they were there, because of Mr. Stark. He knew that she liked engineering, even if she tried to hide it. It was quite obvious that she loved technology and all that went with it, so he knew that to see someone that's more than great at it was a exiting for her. He softly smiled at the girl as she watched Mr. Stark work with big eyes and then he turned back to the man that his other companion was watching like a hawk.  
Anastasia watched Mr. Stark while he worked and was surprised by his calmness as he disassembled the dangerous weapons, which could explode with any wrong move. To be honest, she was a little scared just from watching him taking missiles apart. And then he started a conversation with Dr. Yinsen. Anastasia was impressed by his skill. To be able taking apart weapons like that and chat while doing, well you needed some skill to do that.  
While disassembling the missiles Tony started a conversation with the other man, whose name he still didn't know. "How many languages do you speak?" Asked Tony and the other man answered:"A lot. But apparently, not enough for this place," and Tony quietly snorted at his answer. "They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian," the other man continued to talk. Tony was a little surprised by all the different languages they spoke his captors. He decided to voice his curiosity: "Who are these people?" "They are your loyal customers, Sir. They call themselves the Ten Rings." Tony lifted his head as he heard the part of these people being his customers. He looked at the other man and returned to working. As he was working he noticed in the corner of his eye a small person sitting on the bed and watching. He noticed the girl earlier, but never commented on it, but he was quite curious what a small girl like her was doing here. He was disturbed from his thoughts of the girl by the man's voice: "You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process." Tony ignored the man's suggestion and just said a simple "Aha". He carried on working alone and taking out part of the weapons. When he pulled out the part he needed, he went to a table and sat down. Tony proceeded on taking out another smaller piece from the part of the weapon he had and then throwing away the useless part.  
Dr. Yinsen was curious. He didn't know what Mr. Stark was doing or what was the thing he was holding with a piece of pliers, so he asked him: "What is that?"  
"That's palladium, 0.15 grammes. We need at least 1 .6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?" Anastasia was sure she heard of palladium before. She started to think of all the things he heard of the thing Mr. Stark was holding and after a second she remembered the information she needed. _Palladium: __Palladium __was __discovered __by William Hyde Wollaston at 1803 in England.__Origin of name__: named after the asteroid "__Pallas__" which was discovered at about the same time and from the Greek name "__Pallas__", goddess of wisdom. __Group in periodic table: 10, Group name: Precious metal or Platinum group metal, Period in periodic table: 5, Block in periodic table: d-block, Color: silvery white metallic, Classification: Metallic…_She went through all the information she had on element and she wondered what he will need it for. She thought of many possibilities for its use, but in the end she just continued to watch; until she had at least little more info on what is Mr. Stark creating she could not know for sure what the palladium will be used for.  
Mr. Stark made a small circle and by now the curiosity was killing Anastasia. _What is he doing?_ She wondered.


End file.
